Dr. Clayton Yates is a recognized expert in health disparity research. Dr. Yates earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in molecular pathology, as well as a certificate of training in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative medicine from the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine. He then went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine Department of Urology.
After completing his post-doctoral training, Dr. Yates started as a tenure track Assistant Professor at Tuskegee University in the Department of Biology and Center for Cancer Research. Dr. Yates was promoted through the ranks to Full Professor. Cell-MENTOR recognized Dr. Yates (an online resource from Cell Press and Cell Signaling Technology) among the 100 most inspiring Black Scientists in America. Dr. Yates’s lab focuses on prostate and breast cancer, particularly in African Americans. His lab has established several models derived from African American and Native African prostate cancer patients. Additionally, Dr. Yates identified a subtype of Breast cancer called “Quadruple Negative Breast Cancer” (QNBC), which is more frequent in women of African Ancestry. This novel approach used genetic admixture analysis and identified a specific ancestry-associated immune-related signature in both Breast and Prostate Cancers.
Dr. Yates was featured on NCI’s website for the NCI Annual Plan & Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2023 which was provided to Congress President Joe Biden and the public. He has also received numerous research honors and awards totaling over 50 million dollars. He has authored over 100+ peer-reviewed publications and is a member of the editorial board of Scientific Reports and AACR-Cancer Research Communications.
Dr. Yates also serves as Co-Director for the Transatlantic Prostate Cancer Consortium, which focuses on understanding the tumor biology in native African men in Nigeria. In addition, Dr. Yates was the 2022-2023 Chair of the Minorities in Cancer Research Council (MICR) within (AACR), which serves 7,000+ minority cancer-focused scientists. Dr. Yates currently serves as MPI of U54- NCI CPACHE-Cancer Health Disparities Partnership with Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and the Howard University Cancer Center.
